


cross that line

by deadspoets



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Dates, First Kiss, First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 20:06:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14626086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deadspoets/pseuds/deadspoets
Summary: thor asks bruce for a favor and they both end up getting more than they expected.





	cross that line

**Author's Note:**

> once again, brucethor is a ship for intellectuals.

Bruce can already tell Thor wants something by the way he ducks his head into Bruce’s room at the compound with an over enthusiastic smile and his twiddling fingers.

“Banner, there you are!”

“Hey, Thor. What can I do for you?”

“Oh Bruce, can’t I just hang out with my best friend?”

Thor plunks himself down to join Bruce on top of his bed. He settles himself into the mess of pillows while Bruce looks up from his laptop that rests on his lap.

“Ya know, Parker told me that holding your technology on your scrotum can reduce your sperm count.” Thor says as he pokes at Bruce’s thigh.

Bruce laughs, “Thank you so much for worrying about my lack of future children.”

“What, you don’t want some little baby Banners meddling around in a lab someday? I think we could make some very cute babies, Bruce.”

“I know you’re joking, Thor, but that’s not how that works.”

“Shame.” Thor looks at Bruce with a secret smile.

There’s a beat as Bruce wonders, not for the first time, if Thor flirts with everyone else as much as he does with Bruce.

Bruce adjusts his glasses, “So what is it you need?”

“Ah yes!” Thor readjusts himself so that he sits cross legged across from Bruce.

“I was talking to my brother the other day and he asked me if I was seeing anyone, which he has been for like the last three hundred years, and it’s so very annoying. To finally shut him up, I lied and told him yes but he pressed the issue like the sneaky gossip he is. I wouldn’t give him a name, cuz you know, I didn’t have one. He guessed your name though and I agreed just to make it stop.”

“Loki thinks we’re dating?” Bruce asks, extremely flustered.

“And he wants us to have dinner with him.”

“He what?!”

“Banner, I know I should’ve asked if you were okay with it but it all happened so fast.”

Bruce groans into his hands.

“Thor, I really don’t want to be a part of t-”

Bruce can’t finish the sentence because Thor is prying Bruce’s fingers off his face.

“I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable.”

Thor looks at Bruce with such sincerity the apology tumbles out of Bruce.

“No, no. You’re fine. This-”

The second, unspoken part of that sentence echoes in Bruce’s mind; “This isn’t how I imagined it would happen.” Bruce is used to pining, a shy and quiet guy like him didn’t usually make the first move. Thor was just another silly crush Bruce had. Though, if he was being really honest with himself, Bruce always hoped that one day Thor would look at him the way he looks Thor.

He glances up at Thor. There’s something behind his blue eyes and it’s that something that makes Bruce blurt out that he’ll go to the dinner. A large smile slowly spreads across Thor’s face and he falls onto Bruce with a hug. The mattress creaks with the weight of Thor’s muscular body falling on top of Bruce.

“Oh wonderful! I’ll make this up to you, don’t worry. We can go into the city, stay the night.”

“Wear that red party jacket and then maybe we’ll see.”

Thor leaves Bruce’s room like he always does, with a hearty laugh and a last glance back.

\---

Bruce looks at his reflection in the mirror with a slight sigh. He muses his hair but there’s a lock that won’t stay in its place. He straightens his tie but there’s a fold that won’t come out. It’s like he can never achieve perfection.

“Wow, Banner, you look amazing.”

Thor crosses the threshold of Bruce’s room and in one swift motion, smooths both Bruce’s tie and hair.

“There, now you’re perfect.”

Bruce looks at their reflection in the mirror and snorts.

“I can’t believe you actually wore that coat.” 

“Gotta fit in with those fashionable New York crowds, eh?”

Behind his back, Thor procures a handful of lilies.

“The girl at the shop said they were perfect for my boyfriend but we have prettier ones on Asgard.”

Bruce flushes at the mention of “boyfriend” and accepts the bouquet.

“You’re still comfortable with this, right?” Thor asks. He puts his hand on Bruce’s forearm for reassurance.

Bruce smiles. “Of course, I’d do anything for you.”

“Let’s go pretend to be in love, eh?”

With the way Bruce’s pulse jumped when Thor touched him, he’s pretty sure he doesn’t have to pretend.

\---

The pair get to the SoHo restaurant before Loki, unsurprisingly as the mischievous brother took pleasure in making Thor wait.

The hostess sits Thor and Bruce down in the corner booth and they slide in next to each other. Thor adjusts Bruce’s tie for him like a good boyfriend. The two ease into casual conversation and Bruce easily gets lost in Thor’s eyes. They unconsciously practice casual romantic gestures, though really, they had been “practicing” for years already. Pieces of lint are picked off, feet are intertwined under the table, hands caress thighs. Minutes later, Loki strides in with his usual suave attitude that blends in with the downtown businessmen and their wives. Thor slings an arm around Bruce’s shoulder when he sees the black coated figure of his brother out of the corner of his eye. Thor’s throws one of his signature wink and smiles at Bruce.

“Brother, Mr. Banner. So good to see you both.” Loki shakes Bruce’s hand before Thor forces him into a giant hug that Bruce knows would’ve crushed Loki in half if he wasn’t a god.

“He does this every time as if we haven’t seen each other in ten years.”

“Sometimes we haven’t, brother.” 

Loki throws a “touché” at Thor as they all settle into the booth.

The night progresses with appetizers, entrees, dessert. A round of drinks; a beer, a rum and coke, and a vodka martini, quickly turns into three rounds. Then four. Bruce knows better than to try and outdrink two Asgardian gods but he gets a very pleasant buzz going. It takes the brothers twice as many rounds to get as drunk as Bruce.

“I’m so happy to finally see you two together. Thor has been talking about you nonstop for like the last five years, it’s been exhausting, no offense.”

Bruce is taken aback, to say the least. “Uh, none taken.”

Thor is blushing, a phenomenon Bruce has never personally witnessed.

Loki continues. “I’m usually the lovesick one, but you really brought out the pining fool in Thor. How did he finally get you, Banner?”

Bruce rambles off the rehearsed story, something about right timing and a coffee invitation three months ago, but Bruce can’t stop thinking about the bombshell Loki didn’t realize he just dropped. Neither can Thor, as he slyly avoids direct eye contact with Bruce. Thor should’ve known that his brother would expose him eventually and if he pressed himself, he was kind of hoping Loki would do exactly that. It was much easier than directly confessing his feelings for Bruce.

The waiter approaches the table with the coffee they had ordered and the check. The caffeine does something to stabilize Bruce and he feels almost solid again. He’s not all the way sober though and is glad to remember that Thor said they’d stay the night in the city. His mind flashes to a hotel room, dark lights, curtains drawn. Guilt immediately washes over him, he shouldn’t fantasize about things like that, not with Thor. Yet, Loki’s previous sentiments reverberate in Bruce. “Lovesick”, “pining”. Could Thor really feel that way too? Bruce is so caught up in his thoughts, like most of the time, and has to have Thor repeat himself when he says it’s time to go. The small group leaves the restaurant and Thor leads Bruce out with a hand on the small of his back. Goodbyes are exchanged, Bruce even gets a hug from Loki. As he hugs his brother goodbye, Loki whispers something to Thor that makes him simultaneously giggle and punch Loki. Thor makes sure Loki is still watching them when they walk away towards their hotel, slipping his hand into Bruce’s. He waves with his other. The New York air is cool and breezy. Its sharp bite reminds Bruce that outside that restaurant, Thor and him aren’t actually together. Contrary to what they told Loki, they don’t actually have a weekly date night. They don’t fall asleep in each other’s arms. They don’t love each other like that. 

They round the corner, out of Loki’s eyesight, but Thor keeps his hand in Bruce’s. Bruce looks down at their intertwined fingers and back up to Thor.

“Thor-”

“Not here. Not now.”

Thor’s response confuses Bruce, but their walk ends soon after as they arrive at their hotel. They’re both quiet (Thor, uncharacteristically so) as they check in and receive their room keys. As the elevator hurtles towards their floor, Bruce has a gut feeling they’re hurtling towards more than just a hotel room. When they open the door and enter the room, Thor mumbles something about changing and brushing his teeth in the bathroom. Bruce himself strips to his boxers and a sleep shirt. He sits on the end of the bed, pretending to read the room service menu. Thor didn’t close the door all the way and from where he’s sitting, Bruce can see into the bathroom. He’s seen Thor shirtless many times before but now as he watches Thor take off his clothes, something stirs in Bruce’s stomach. He recognizes it as anticipation. Though it’s dark in the room and no one can see him, Bruce blushes. Thor opens the bathroom door and Bruce hastily goes back to reading the back of the menu. The lamp backlights Thor as he hesitantly sits next to Bruce and for the first time, Bruce sees he is visibly nervous. 

Thor’s low, gravelly voice is the first to break the silence. 

“Bruce.”

When he hears his name, Bruce looks up at Thor. Thor looks back at him with soft eyes and an even softer smile. Bruce smiles back, like he always does. Thor puts his right hand over Bruce’s left that lays in between them. Bruce swears later that his heart genuinely skipped a beat. 

“Thor.” 

That’s all either of them has to say to each other. No cheesy romantic proclamation or rushed surprise kiss is needed. Their names say it all. 

Thor takes his time closing the gap between him and Bruce. He holds the back of Bruce’s neck with his left hand, grabs Bruce’s cheek with his right, and slowly brings his forehead to touch the other’s. Nose is grazing nose and breath is matched with breath. Their first kiss is calm and steady. All that matters in that moment is the two of them. The outside chaos of New York melts away as Thor melts into Bruce. Both of them wonder why they didn’t do this before, why it took a dinner with Loki to kickstart this. Shirts are thrown off and they fall onto the bed together.

The night unfolds into a string of kisses, a few quiet moans, and one set of rumpled bed sheets.

**Author's Note:**

> don't forget to leave kudos & comments!
> 
> find me @ sergtbarnes on twitter and @ paddypubs on tumblr


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